Fish lure



pt 1952 R. J. MCFARLAND FISH LURE Filed Oct. 5, 1945 Patented Sept. 2, 1952 UNITED srArss earsN'r A f 1 -2, ss,79 0 7 g FISH LULRLE'R a I Robert J. McFarland, white fiear-Lake, Minn.- Application October 5, 194's; seriainogszaus 1. invention relates to. an improvement in fish'lure wherein it is desired to provide an at: tractive bait for use in fishing.

Various types of lures have previously been used which embody some means of rotating j or spinning the body of the lure as it travels through the water. Theselures often have certaindisadvantages. In the first place a spinning .lure often tangles or twists the supported hooks in such a way as to render the hooks partially or wholly inefiective or to detract from the appearance of the bait; Furthermore, I have found that it is sometimes advantageous. to spin the lureat a higher rate of speed than at other times. Such adjustment of the. rotating speed of the lure has been usually practical only by varying thespeed with which the lure travels through the water. 1

It is, the object of the present invention ,to provide a lure having vanesfixed to, opposite sides thereof which act to spin the body-of the --lure as it travels through the water. These vanes are. so afiixed that the angleor pitch of the blades maybe varied so as to vary, the speed of rotation of the lure.

A further objectofgthepresent invention is to provide. a: means. of; supporting the hooks of I the lure-:so that they; may at all times depend freely from-the lure. As a; result the body of the lure may spin freely at any desired-rate of speed, but the: hooks-are at all times;- depending downwardly atlthesmost effective angle to-catch a fish attacking the-lure;

A-feature of the present invention lies. in providing vanes; or blades .in angularly spaced relation. about the body of the lure which are variable in pitch. By changing the angle of these bladesthe speed of'rotation of the lure may be regulated.

A further feature of thepresent invention lies in-the provision ofindicia cooperating with the blades. or vanes to indicate various blades. set-. tings. As a result allof the vanes or bladesmay beadjusted to the 'sameanglerelative to a plane through the axis of rotation of the hire and throughthe axis of pivotal adjustment of. each vane.

A further feature of the; present invention resides in the specific method'employed to support the hooks on the lure; A screw eye extends into the body of the lure at each end "thereof. A supporting ring of a diameter less than the diameter of "the screw'eye .head is freely supported. on the. shank. of th'e screw eye between the head thereof and the body of the lure; Asecond ring, pref 5' Claims. (Cl. 4342.46)"

erably .of'larger diameter, is linked'fthrou'gh the: first named ring. A hookelem'ent, havin'ggan'fiab taching eye is threaded through this, secondringi As a result the lure may spin or rotate about a. longitudinal axis without catching. upon. orfix'o' tating the supported hooks. r

'A further feature ofthepresent linventionfrle sides in the manner of attachment of "the'lurefte the line. Thescrew eye anchored-inaone fend' oti the lure has a .ringof somewhat largerdiarnetli linked therethrough. This ring is. also. linked through one end of a swivelhconneotor- The diameter of the connecting ring between the, screw eye 'andithe swivel is suchthat it can not fricgtionally engage overeither the screw eye '01? the. swivel, thereby automatically becomihgproperly' positioned when a pull is exerted upon the line',;.

tendin to draw the lurethrough'the water.-

Afeature of the present invention resides'in. the fact that in one. form oflconstruction screweyes mounted at opposite ends, oitheiluref may be off-set from the longitudinal'cent'er of the lure body, thereby creating an eccentric movement as the lure travels through-the water. Withsuch a construction the lure body. wobbles; some extent as it rotates,. causing alnuneve'n movement somewhat simulating that of 'a fish;

These and-other objects andno vel.featin esrof my invention will be more clearlyand fully set forth in thefollowing specificationand claimsr In the drawingsforming-a part of my-lspjeci fication:

Figure 1 is a side elevationalview ofmyilureshowing the construction thereof.

Fi ure 2 isa top plan view of the-lure: s

Figure 3 is a side'elevational view ofjagmodified' The body l0 tapers to a -restricted point:[13 -01 relatively small diameter and then tapers i one wardly at the rear end l4 somewhat: simih lating the fan shape of the tail 'ofaminndwr- In. preferred form the forward end o'f the'bodysfdr wardly of" the "dividing: line- I5 is" coloredaxred'i while the remainder of the body is white.

Extending axially into the-body- H) I provide..-

a screw' eye 16 having aprojecting shank: portion 11 projecting beyond the forward end H of the lure and terminating in an eye IS. A bearing plate or flange may, if desired, extend about the shank l1 against the rounded forward end H of the body, providing a bearing plate overlying the adjacent surface of the body. A ring 21 of a diameter smaller than that of the screw eye l9 encircles the projecting portion 11 of the shank of the screw eye. This ring 21 is thus prevented from frictionally engaging the arcuated surface of the eye I9 and is held in place thereby. The ring 2| is obviously freely rotatable about the shank I1.

A ring 22 of somewhat larger diameter than the ring 2| is linked through the ring 2| and is supported thereby. The diameter of the ring 22 is of such proportion to the diameter of the ring 21 that the ring 22 can not extend over the eye 19 during the casting process. During the casting and other movement of the lure the ring 22 might otherwise have a tendency of catching ,over the eye l9, thereby preventing proper operation of the bait.

A hook element 23 which is preferably of the triple hook type is supported by the ring 22. The weight of the hook normally causes the same to depend downwardly as the lure travels through the water and the supporting element is such that it is extremely difficult for the hook to become fouled during either the casting processor during. the movement of the lure while in the water.

A ring 24 is loopedthrough the eye l9 to connect this eye with the swivel 25. The swivel 25 is .of any common type and is connected at its forward end to the leader or line 26. The ring 24is of substantially larger diameter than either the eye 19 or the loop end 21 of the leader 25 so that this ring 24 .can not look over either the eye or the loop end. As a result when a pull is exrtedon the leader or line 25 the ring 24 will straighten'out as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 in a manner to cause a direct pull.

, At the opposite end of the body 10 I provide a screw eye 29 which extends axially into the body 10.. A portion 30 of the shank of the screw eye-projects beyond the end of the body to form a support for a ring 3!. An eye 32 is provided on the outer end of the screw eye 29, and a disc shaped flange 33 may be secured to the shank if desired to abut against the'end of the lure body H]. The ring 3i is of smaller diameter than the eye 32 so that it may freely rotate about the exposed portion 30 of the shank between the flange 33 and the head 32. v

A ring 34 of larger diameter than the ring 3| is looped through this ring 3| and also through the eye 35 of the hook assembly 36. The'hook assembly 36 is preferably a triple hook as illustrated. V

The diameter of the ring 34 is substantially larger than the ring 33, but this ring 34 is not of-sufiicient size to engage over the eye 32, thus preventing the connecting links from binding. A pair of vanes or blades 31 are provided with substantially circular flanged heads 39 and a threaded shank 40. The flanged heads 39 engage against the sides ofthe lure, body In or may be slightly counter-sunk into the body. The threaded shanks 32 are screwed into the body lliuntil the heads frictionally engage the sides of the body. While in this position the blades or vanes.31 may be rotated through a limited angularity without losing frictional engagement with the body.

- Adjacent the ends of the vanes 31 on each side of the body I provide indicia or gage marks such as 41 and 42. These gage marks are marked with suitable indicia 43 so that the marks can be distinguished one from the other. As a result the vanes or blades 31 may be turned to the same relative angularity on opposite sides of the lure, one vane being arranged with its forward end below a plane through the axis of the lure and through the axis of rotation of the vane, and the'other vane being arranged with its forward end above this same plane. For example, as will be noted in Figure 2 of the drawings the vane 31 which appears uppermost in the drawing is arranged with its forward end above a horizontal plane, while the vane 31 at the lower extremity of this figure is arranged with its forward end below the horizontal plane. As a result movement 0f the lure through the water will cause the body 18 to spin about its longitudinal axis.

I have found that when the body Ill rotates at a relatively high rate of speed the rotation carries the lure near the surface of the water. On the other hand whenthe spinning movement of the lure is somewhat'slower the bait has a tendency to penetrate more deeply into the water. Thus in using the lure the position of the vanes 31 may be adjusted to compensate both for the speed with which the lure is travelling through" the water and also for the desired depth at which the lure should travel. I i

In Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings I disclose a lure B which is very similar in most respects to that previously described, with the exception of the fact that the screw eyes entering opposite ends of the lure are off-set from the longitudinal axis of the lure. Itwill be noted that the lure body 44 is provided with a red colored forward end forwardly of the line 45 and a white colored portion 46 rearwardly of the line 45. A screw eye 41 enters the forward end of the lure body at a point off-set from the longitudinal axis of the lure which is designated by the line 49. A screw eye 50 enters the opposite end of the lure at a point equally spaced on the other side of the line 49. As a result the rotation of the body 46 causes a wobbling motion of the bait'which would not be found in thelure A. I

In other respects the lure B is similar in principle, if not in shape, to the lure A. The'screw eye 41 corresponds to the screw eye lfi of 'the lure A and is similarly equipped to support the hook 23. The screw eye 50 is similar-Tto'lthe screw eye 29 of the lure A and is similarly equipped to support the hook 36. The hooks 23.

It will be noted from an observation of the.

drawings that my lure can be caused to dive or to remain on the surface of the water without spinning, if both of the vanes 31 or 5| are adjusted to lie with their forward ends both above or below a horizontal plane through the axis of the lure. I prefer, however, that the vanes be arranged for spinningthe lure as previously described. I

' In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation'of my fish lure, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiments thereof, I desire to have it understood that ob- ViOlls changes may be made within the scope of the following ,.claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A lure comprising an elongated body, a screw eye extending into one end of said body, an exposed shank portion on said screw eye, a ring on said shank of smaller diameter than the eye of said screw eye, a hook, and a second ring connecting said first named ring and said hook, said second ring being larger than said first named ring and having an internal diameter smaller than the external diameter of said eye.

2. A lure comprising an elongated body, a screw eye extending from one end thereof, an exposed shank portion between the eye of said screw eye and said lure'body, a ring encircling said exposed shank portion, a hook, a second ring connecting said first ring and said hook, said second ring being larger than said first named ring but having an internal diameter smaller than the internal diameter of said eye, a third ring extending through said screw eye, said third ring being of substantially larger diameter than said screw eye and a swivel connected to said third ring.

3. A lure comprising an elongated body, a screw eye extending into each end of said body, said screw eyes being arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of said body, an exposed shank portion oneach of said screw eyes, said shank portions being substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis, a first ring loosely mounted on each said exposed shank portion, said first rings being held in place by the eyes of said screw eyes, a pair of hooks and second rings connecting said first rings to said hooks, and means for rotating said body about said longitudinal axis.

- 4. A lure comprising an elongated body, a

screw eye having a threaded shank extending into said body at each end thereof, a ring rotatably supported and freely encircling each shank of the screw eye between the eye thereof and the lure body, said rings being of smaller diameter than said eyes, each of said first mentioned rings having a second ring extending through, said second ring being larger than said first named ring but having an internal diameter smaller than the external diameter of said eye, and a hook supported by each said second ring.

5. A lure comprising an elongated body, journal means projecting from each end of said body in an oppositely offset relation to the longitudinal axis of said body, said journal means being substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis, bearing means encircling each journal means, a hook carried by each bearing means, and means for rotating said body about said longitudinal axis.

ROBERT J. MCFARLAND.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 489,110 Welch Jan. 3, 1893 1,220,921 Wilson Mar. 27, 1917 1,232,211 Burkman July 3, 1917 1,816,725 Freeman July 28, 1931 1,832,037 Meehan Nov. 17, 1931 2,005,985 Bear June 25, 1935 2,011,075 Pflueger Aug. 13, 1935 2,017,903 Johnson Oct. 22, 1935 2,243,663 Wareham May 27, 1941 2,459,288 Robbins et al Jan. 18, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 19,132 Great Britain of 1903 23,482 Great Britain of 1899 

